Just one day after the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open event at Lake Toho, another great group of anglers gathered at Kissimmee Florida’s beautiful Lakefront Park, in an attempt to put together a winning pattern, and walk away with some great hardware. The Florida BASS Nation launched the morning of the 18th at Big Toho Marina, sending out 25 High School division teams, along with 6 teams in the Junior division. With each boat holding two up and coming youth anglers, and a volunteer boat captain for the day, they set out at safe light to put a limit together.
Bryce Goff and Roger Weigel, Jr. pose with their trophies.
While several anglers decided to stay in Lake Toho, there was a hefty amount that made the run to lock first thing in the morning to head farther south. As the day progressed, the wind picked up and played a big role in everyone’s plans. Not only had the lake been pressured for several weeks prior to the event by other tournament anglers, but the young anglers had to face fighting the force of Mother Nature, blowing a strong north wind, sending white caps down the middle of all four lakes. Despite what some might call “lock-jaw”, coupled with aches and pains from the long runs in rough water, two teams were able to put together a respectable limit and head home with some awesome trophies.
Taking home first place in the High School division was Kyle Tomlinson and Beau Clymer. According to Tomlinson, paying close attention to the Southern Open top anglers is what helped them towards their victory. They spent most of the day trying to mimic what several of the Opens anglers had figured out, just a few days prior, and it paid off in a big way. Coming into the scales toting a 14.18 pound sack, they were able to take first place and earn their own set of bragging rights. A 4.07 pound kicker anchored their limit. The Riverdale team of Bailey Haines and Travis Conrad caught a limit of five bass, weighing in at 12.63 pounds, to bring in a close second. Strawberry Crest made a big statement in this event by taking third and fourth place in the standings. Colten Smith and Rafet White wrangled 9.81 pounds, while their teammates Jonathan North and Russell Butler weighed in 9.16 pounds. Rounding out the top five was the George Jenkins team of Cole and Shane Schmucker with an 8.68 pound, five bass limit.
Bryce Goff and Roger Weigel, Jr. took home the first place bragging rights from the Junior division after bringing in a limit weighing 8.81 pounds to the scales. Both are excellent seasoned youth competitors, which goes to show just how tough the lake fished in this event. According to the two young anglers, the long and rough run down to Kissimmee was well worth it. Just behind them sitting in second place was the team of Kaylee Guntrum and Hunter Bailey with 3.71 pounds. Third place in the Juniors division went to Fisher Cusic and Sammy Jay Acree. They weighed in three fish for a total of 2.75 pounds.
Congratulations to all teams that competed in both divisions. Thank you to the city of Kissimmee, Martin Bozeman, and Jeff Brooks for putting together a great event, and running it in a way that makes young children want to be involved in such an organization. If you would like to participate in these events, contact Jeff Brooks and he will guide you towards an awesome experience.
A full list of results can be found by clicking here Showdown on Toho Results.
Headline photo: Shannon Tomlinson
